A Different Perspective
I am loving my internship! I have finally gotten to the point where I pretty much have my own schedule of patients. The ones that I evaluate independently are the ones that I treat in addition to some of my CI's other patients. I am not going to lie, the "observing" period was kind of a bore, but when you actually get to start working with the patients, the perspective is totally different.
So far most of my patient's diagnoses have been pretty basic but I have had a few complex/interesting diagnoses also. I realized that though it feels good to practice on my own, the most important thing is to know when you need help. Granted you don't want to seem like you don't know what you are doing in front of the patient, but it is better than doing or saying something incorrect. Heck, the therapists at my site frequently ask one another for assistance when they are stumped, so why should I be afraid to ask for help when I need it?
Even though half of me hates asking for help, I learned young that if you never ask, you'll never know. I assumed that it would more or less only apply to school-related activities, but this has quickly made me notice that it applies throughout life, especially in a field that is constantly evolving.